Nothing in the world is weaker and more yielding than water. Yet, nothing in the world is better at wearing away that which is hard and strong. Lao Tze, The Tao Te Ching

     All creatures depend upon water for life. In ancient Western tradition, water is the fourth element. Your human body is largely composed of water. We must have water in order to sustain life and health. In the order of the elements of life, water is third on the list: air, fire, water, earth. Without air, we can survive for only a few minutes. We die within a few minutes or hours if exposed to extremes of heat and cold. Without water, we live for only a few days. A few weeks without food usually result in death.
      Water is vital for healing and the maintenance of good health. Not only does it provide essential moisture to the body, water symbolizes the unconscious, the dream state, the well from which flows intuition and memory. Because all healing comes from harmony of body, mind and spirit, it is important that these parts of the human creature work together as one. Water unites us with ourselves, helping us harmonize the mysterious energies that tend towards health and healing.
      Although we in the West have forgotten this, water is holy. Millions of people living in India and other, more natural, areas still know that water is sacred. These folk, not blinded by Humanist philosophies, see what is real and understand that we are like all other creatures, dependant on earth and water for our very lives. To our ancestors water was sacred. The phrases still in use today reveal this. We speak of the water of life, of holy water, of healing waters.
      Water is at the heart of the archetypal symbol of our greatest Western myth. The Holy Grail of Arthurian legends is a Christianized version of the Great Cauldrons belonging to, or guarded by, ancient Goddesses and Gods. There are many cauldrons in Celtic myth. Undry, the Cauldron of the Dagda, the Irish All-Father, supplies an endless feast. As in the Grail legend, whoever eats from Undry finds it contains that food which s/he most likes. Although there are several cauldrons, which are in the keeping of Gods, the cauldron is essentially feminine. Cauldrons are usually associated with some large body of water, often a lake but sometimes with the sea. They are miraculous vessels of healing, abundance and power.
      Although the Wounded King guards the Grail, the Grail Maiden actually bears the holy vessel. She carries it through the great hall and she helps the young Grail Knights in their quest to discover her hallowed treasure. The knight who achieves the quest is transfigured, transported into the Shining Realms. Or else he becomes the Grail King, the Worldly Guardian of the Grail.
      In Ireland, the Goddess Brighid, in Her aspect of Begoibne, forges Her great cauldron beneath Croghan Hill in County Offaly. This cauldron is so vast it contains the sea. At one time, a pot, representing the Cauldron of Brighid, was buried beneath the hearthstone in Irish homes. There are many Holy Wells in Ireland sacred to St. Briget, the Christianized form of the ancient Goddess.
      For a thousand years or more, during the conversion of Europe from Paganism to Christianity, bishops, popes and kings vigorously tried to prevent the veneration of sacred fountains and lakes. Council after council passed laws directing priests and kings to abolish these practices. About 452 C.E., the Council of Arles declared the veneration of trees, fountains and stones, and the lighting of torches - presumably in fire rituals - sacrilegious. Those who persisted in these practices were excommunicated. The country-folk, however, do not appear to have taken this edict very much to heart. Four centuries later Charlemagne attempted to wipe out surviving Pagan customs. He issued an edict stating: "With respect to trees, stones, and fountains, where certain foolish people light torches or practice other superstitions, we earnestly ordain that that most evil custom detestable to God, wherever it be found, should be removed and destroyed."
      These edicts had so little effect that eventually the fountains were Christianized. Called by the names of saints, they were made sacred to the new religion. Today, many people still resort to these healing wells for cures. Just as the folk of India bath in the Ganges, thousands upon thousands of pilgrims repair to Lourdes for miracles. There are scores of Holy Wells in Britain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Some are dedicated to Brighid, others to St. Anne. A few are dedicated to Elizabeth, Catherine and other queens or feminine saints. Many are wells of the Archangel Michael, of the saints Patrick, Columba, and Joseph, or of some local man who led a holy life. There are also Puck wells and Robin wells. These are associated with the Faery Puck, the Green Man, or the Lords of the Beasts.
      The Welsh Cauldron of Bran the Blessed restores the lives of slain warriors but not their speech, for they have traveled to the Enchanted Realm and may not speak of what they saw there. It originally came from Ireland, from under a lake. Branwen, sister of Bran and a Sovereignty Goddess of Wales, brought it back to Ireland as part of her dowry when she married the Irish King. Also in Wales, Cerridwen's Cauldron bestows wisdom, inspiration and re-birth. Bards are born in the same way that Taliesin is re-born after tasting the broth of Wisdom in Cerridwen's Cauldron. The quest for a third Welsh cauldron, the Cauldron of Annwn, is told in an ancient story, one of the earliest of the Arthurian tales. Heated by the breath of nine maidens, this cauldron will not boil the food of a coward. In the Preiddeu Annwn or the Spoils of Annwn, Arthur and three shiploads of heroic companions set sail to steal the Cauldron of Annwn, property of the Lord of Annwn. Although monks in the Middle Ages first transcribed the Preiddeu Annwn, the story contains many pre-Christian elements. Many scholars consider it the archetype of all the later Grail legends. The Cauldron of Annwn was a fabled and beautiful object, enameled in iridescent flowers and rimmed with priceless pearls. Annwn's Cauldron was so well protected that only seven men returned from the adventure.
      Through attunement with the element of water, we access the depth of our emotions. We discover inner wisdom and knowledge, self-healing and transformation. We enter the innermost realms of our own subconscious minds. We open ourselves to intuitions and dreams.
      Sailing into this sea is a voyage of personal discovery. We encounter realizations we have long refused to recognize within the self. These revelations can be frightening and, sometimes, emotionally draining. However, we may never experience the depth and passion we are born to fulfill within our lives until we complete these personal voyages.

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From: Healing Waters, copyright © 2002, Tira Brandon-Evans. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permissions of the copyright holders. We retain legal counsel to enforce our copyrights.

 

Copyright © 2003, Elder Grove Press and content providers. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permissions of the copyright holders. We retain legal counsel to enforce our copyrights.